This blog is an archive of reviews, interviews, feature stories and various odds and ends I've written for newspapers and magazines since 1998. A few other things I've written, along with mp3s, videos and whatnot will show up here as well.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Rob Crow

Living WellTemporary Residence

As Ferris Bueller once put it, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." Pinback vocalist / guitarist Rob Crow understands this bit of universal truth and with Living Well he takes things down a notch. From the Loudon Wainwright-esque cover to the self-effacing single, “I Hate You, Rob Crow” an air of lightheartedness is imbued with sentimental pop hooks that are undeniably infectious. Crow’s simple guitar parts in “Chucked” and “Ring” ooze with nostalgia that’s cut from the same cloth as Nirvana’s “Come As You Are” and Sonic Youth’s “Disappearer,” filtered through the cannon of an indie rock slacker-turned family man. In the process, Crow doesn’t play the role of the songwriter with a capital “s” spitting snarky commentary at domestic life, but a man who’s adjusting well to his new role without forgetting his past.